Councilwoman Kathy Horgan with Ziad Shehady, right, and schools Superintendent Jared Rumage in May, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Former Red Bank business administrator Ziad Shehady and Councilwoman Kathy Horgan are scheduled to address the Charter Study Commission Tuesday night.
Ziad Shehady at borough hall in February, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See CORRECTION below
By JOHN T. WARD
Eight months after he ended a stormy stint as Red Bank’s top unelected official, Ziad Shehady is scheduled to offer his perspective on how well the town’s government works Wednesday night.
Ziad Shehady in his borough hall office in June, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[This post has been updated since it was first published.]
By JOHN T. WARD
After only three years on the job, Ziad Shehady is resigning as Red Bank’s top unelected official, he told the borough council behind closed doors Wednesday night.
Ziad Shehady at borough event in February, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A week after announcing he was stepping down from a position that had become a “lightning rod” for criticism, Red Bank Borough Administrator Ziad Shehady said he plans to host a pair of public roundtables on a wide range of issues later this month.
Ziad Shehady, left, with Ken DeRoberts at the 2018 Mayor’s Ball. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Ziad Shehady resigned as the executive director of the Red Bank Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, saying the position had become a “lightning rod” for criticism and source of distraction from his primary job as borough business administrator.
Ziad Shehady at borough hall in December, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Business Administrator Ziad Shehady has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, he told redbankgreen Thursday.
But he’s working from home and hasn’t experienced any symptoms worse than a common cold, he said.
Red Bank Business Administrator Ziad Shehady at borough hall in June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
SEE UPDATE BELOW
By JOHN T. WARD
Five months after he took the job, Red Bank’s business administrator is facing a harassment complaint, redbankgreen has learned.
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank government’s personnel director lost her job Monday, one business day after she filed a harassment complaint against borough Business Administrator Ziad Shehady, redbankgreen has confirmed.
Interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell at a meeting in June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council has hit the brakes in its search for a new borough administrator, redbankgreen has learned.
The unexplained pause comes two months after majority Democrats dispatched borough Attorney Dan Antonelli to negotiate a deal with the leading candidate for the town’s top unelected job.
Attorney Greg Cannon at borough hall last November. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It was another night of political fireworks, this time punctuated by Cannon fire, as the Red Bank council terminated borough attorney Greg Cannon without explanation Wednesday night.
The abrupt action created a vacancy Mayor Pasquale Menna angrily refused to fill when Councilman Ed Zipprich nominated a lawyer who recently “exonerated” him of impropriety.
Newly installed retractable bollards will allow for upper Broad Street to be converted quickly to a vehicle-free Broadwalk. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council is scheduled to hold two meetings Wednesday night, its only sessions in July.
Though not on the agenda for either the workshop or regular meeting, action to enable a third season of Broadwalk is anticipated by the downtown business community.
Councilman Ed Zipprich, right, with then-Councilman Erik Yngstrom at a workshop session in March, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich has been “exonerated” after a two-year “smear campaign” meant to “dehumanize” him, he said in a statement to redbankgreen Thursday.
Zipprich’s statement came in response to special attorney’s finding that he did not “interfere” in the award of a trash collection contract two years ago.
Councilman Ed Zipprich, right, with Councilman Michael Ballard in February. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich did not “interfere” in the award of a trash collection contract two years ago, according to an unreleased report obtained by redbankgreen.
Special attorney Scott Salmon’s report also says “there is evidence to suggest” that former business administrator Ziad Shehady was the the anonymous source of internal emails about Zipprich that were leaked to redbankgreen.
Chief and interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell with Senior Center Director Jackie Reynolds last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See Correction below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council will try again to find a full-time borough administrator, following an abandoned effort of year ago.
The search will be revived even as the governing body, sharply divided on numerous other issues, appears to agree that police Chief Darren McConnell is doing a faultless job in double duty as interim administrator.
More than three years after it was closed by a catastrophic leak, the borough Senior Center is about to get repairs. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council is scheduled to award a contract to repair the Senior Center, and to discuss a possible new search for a borough administrator, when it holds back-to-back workshop and regular meetings Wednesday night.
Here are some highlights from the agendas:
Mayor Pasquale Menna, top left, and Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, center bottom, participated in commission interviews via Zoom Wednesday. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Mayor Pasquale Menna on Wednesday joined a growing parade of current and former Red Bank officials who have identified “interference” by council members as one of the borough government’s foremost problems.
In stunning testimony before the Charter Study Commission, Menna also was one of three Democrats who laid blame for local government “dysfunction” squarely on their own party.
Councilman Michael Ballard at Councilwoman Angela Mirandi’s oath ceremony Friday. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Michael Ballard Tuesday blasted as “fictitious” an allegation that he slipped a raise for his wife, a part-time borough employee, past the rest of the governing body in 2019.
In the same press release, Ballard announced his intention to run for mayor, setting up a back-room clash with fellow Democrat and four-term incumbent Pasquale Menna.
Interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell, second row right, at the answered questions from Charter Study Commission members Wednesday night. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The executive authority given Red Bank’s appointed administrator may shift back to elected officials next week.
But will voters shift it back in November?
Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant, framed in green, at Wednesday’s meeting. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Newly elected Red Bank Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant this week followed through on a campaign pledge by proposing the borough Redevelopment Agency be disbanded.
She also proposed resetting the power of the borough business administrator, a role she called “authoritarian.”
Interim Business Administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell with Senior Center Director Jackie Reynolds in October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
At its semimonthly meeting Tuesday night, the Red Bank council is expected to consider a new employment pact with the borough’s acting administrator.
Also on deck: appointing a Master Plan consultant; weighing in on the future of the charter school; and anticipating a looming retirement at borough hall.
The Senior Center has been idle since a fire suppression system leak in January, 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Six months after the Red Bank council agreed to repair the water-damaged Senior Center, a presentation – or two – is in the works to get public input on the plans.
Executive director Cherron Rountree, outlined in yellow, addresses the Red Bank Redevelopment Agency during its virtual meeting Tuesday. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Redevelopment Agency needs to do more to educate the public about its work, its new executive director told members Tuesday evening.
At the same time, the agency will be looking for guidance from the borough council on what that work should be, Chairman David Huber said.
Chief Darren McConnell at National Night Out in August. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of two Red Bank council members who last week called the search for a new borough administrator “stalled” said he learned only this weekend that his colleagues had halted the search weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, two others on the all-Democratic council, as well as Mayor Pasquale Menna, said they’re happy with the job police Chief Darren McConnell is doing as interim administrator, and feel no pressure to replace him.
Former Business Administrator Ziad Shehady, right, with council members Ed Zipprich, left, and Michael Ballard in December, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With a second vacancy in a key position looming, Red Bank’s search for a borough administrator has stalled without explanation, say two council members.
And the current, interim holder of the position, police Chief Darren McConnell, tells redbankgreen” that there has been no recent movement” toward a replacement.
Mayor Pasquale Menna, however, disagrees, and says the local government is operating “in stellar fashion” under McConnell.
Peter O’Reilly, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna, right, and since-departed Business Administrator Ziad Shehady in May, 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After just two and a half years, Red Bank is back in the market for a borough chief financial officer.
With the departure of Peter O’Reilly, who submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday, the top two jobs at town hall are now vacant.